Barrier for ferries, drawbridges, and the like



May 26, 1925 W. J, DONOVAN BARRIER FOR FERRIES; DRAWBRIDGES, AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 9'. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 \nv'enToT. Y William d; Donovan WWW/1W 1,539,651 W. vJ. DONOVAN BARRIER FOR FERRIES, DRAWBRIDGES, AND THE LIKE May 26, 1925.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 9, 1922 Fig.2

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Patented May 26, 1925.

UNITED STATES WILLIAM J'. DONOVAN, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS;

BARRIER FOR FERRIES, DRAWBRIDGES, AND THE LIKE.

Application filed January 9, 1922.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM J. DONOVAN, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Boston, county of Suffolk, State-of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Barriers for Ferries, Drawbridges, and the like, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification, like characters on the drawing representing like parts.

This invention relates to barriers such as are used on ferry boats and drawbridges for the purpose of closing trafiic, and it relates particularly to barriers of the type comprising a flexible member extending between and sustained by posts located on opposite sides of the roadway or passage.

These barriers are usually in the form of chains or wire-cables and are frequently made removed the sections are disconnected and carried out of the way.

In my Patent No. 1,437,404; granted December 5, 1922, I have shown a barrier of this type having associated therewith barrier-supporting means which is structurally independent from the barrier but which is adapted to take the weight of-the barrier when the latter is disconnected, said barriersupporting means being pivotally mounted so that when the barrier is disconnected and the weight thereof is sustained by the supporting means, the swinging movement of the latter will carry the barrier out of the way.

My present invention relates to an improved form of barrier-supporting; means and an improved manner of connecting the barrier thereto when it is disconnected, and it has for its object to provide such a construction that the barrier-supporting means will not be injured in case the barrier is struck by a moving object, such as an automobile or truck or trolley car. I accomplish this by providing a connection between the barrier and the supporting means which will permit the supporting means to readily swing out of the way when struck by a moving object, thus allowing the barrier to come into play to stop the object, this being accomplished without injury to the supporting means.

The invention has for its further object to provide a novel means for supporting the Serial No. 527,898.

posts and to provide a novel connection between the barrier and the posts and. otherwise to improve barriers of this type all as will be more fully hereinafter set forth.

In order to give an understanding of the invention I have illustrated in the drawings Fig. 4 is a section on the line 44, Fig.2;

Fig. 5 is aplan view of the base for the post.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged section on the line 66, Fig. 1.

In the drawings the barrier is in the form of a flexible'member such for instance as a chain or a wire cable extending between and supported by two posts. This flexible mem-- her is conveniently made in 'sections,one section being connected to each post and the two sections being detachably connected together. The barrier sections are indicated at 1 and are herein illustrated as in the form of a wire cable. These sections are secured at their ends to posts 2 situated at either side of a roadway'orpassageway 3 and the sections of the barrier are detachably connected together by means of a hook and eye construction as shown at 4.. I have herein illustrated a barrier comprising two flexible connections but the invention is not limited to any particular number and one or more may be used as desired.

The posts 2 to which the barriers are connected are mounted to turn about a vertical axis so that when the barrier is struck by a moving object and is bowed outwardly the posts will swivel.

These posts are shown as supported on base members 5, each of which has a circular recess 6 formed in its upper facein which is fitted a circular boss 7 on the bottom of the post 2. The post is connected to the base by means of a bolt 8 situated centrally .of the boss, said bolt forming a pivot about which the post can swivel. The boss 7 of .the post is provided with a curved groove 9 is shown as having a recess 14: to receive each spring and the spring bears at one end against the inner wall of the recess. This construction provides a-yielding connection between each barrier section and the post so that in case the barrier is struck by a moving object it will have a yielding action thus bringing the object to rest with a cushionedmovement.

. It is desirable to prevent the eye bolts and barriers from twisting and to accomplish this I have provided a connection between each barrier and its bolt which cooperates with a special formation on the post to prevent such twisting.

Each barrier section 1s shown as having a loop. 15 at its end through which extends a pin 16 carried by two plates 17 between which the eye 18 of'the eye bolt is received and which are connected to said eye by the pin 19 that extends through the eye. These plates 17 form a link connection between the barrier and the eye bolt. The post 2 has formed thereon a projection or rib 20 which is received between the plates 17 and which'serves to prevent the eye bolt from turning about its axis. Thisextension 20 is of suflicient size'so that when the spring 13 is compressed and the plates are drawn out into the dotted line position Fig. 2 they are still engaged by the projection 20 so that said projection will function under all conditions to hold the eye bolt'from turning.

Associated with the barrier 1 is a barrier-supporting device herein shown in the form of swinging gates or members 21 which are pivotally connected to the posts as shown at 22 to swing about a'vertical axis. These two gates 21 are retained in closed position by means of any suitable latch means.

Means are provided for supporting the weight of the barriers from the gates when the barriers are disconnected from each other. As herein shown each gate has intermediate of its ends a rest or support 24 in which the barrier is partially sustained. Each rest 24 is in the form of a hook-shape member and associated with each rest is a i resilient finger 25 which acts as a guard to hold the barrier in the. rest. The free ends of the wire barriers or wire cables have flexible connections 26 secured to the gates as shown at 27. These flexible connections 26 The post as to allow freedom of movement of the gate r in case thebarrier is struck by a moving object, thus obviating the danger of breaking or in'uring the gates. When the gates are close and the barrier sectionsare connected as shown in Fig. 1 the barriers are located close to the gate, and, therefore, if an automobile, truck, trolley car or other moving object runs against the barrier it will also strike the gate. When this occurs the gates will be swun away from the barrier by the impact 0 the moving objects and the wire cables will be pulled off from the rests 24, the yielding fingers 25 permitting this action, and the gates 21 can then swing away from the barrier as far as permitted by the chains 26. These chains or connections 26 are of sufiicient length to allow the gates to have a movement relative to the barrier which will carry them entirely away from the moving object and thus no damage can be done to the gates by the moving object striking the barrier.

The base members 5 rise a considerable distance above the roadway and the posts 2 are correspondingly shorter. This is an ad- 'vantage because it brings the pivotal connection between the post and the base nearer to the barrier and thus reduces the leverage of the post when it is struck by a moving object. I

I claim: 1

1. In a barrier for drawbridges, ferry boats and the like, the combination with two posts, of a flexible barrier connected at its ends to theposts and suspended therefrom,

and means partially supporting the barrier in such a manner that the barrier may be freed therefrom upon being struck by a moving vehicle.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination with two posts, of a barrier connected to said posts and'extending from one to the other, gates hinged to the posts, and separable connections between. the gates and barrier to permit the gates to swing free from the barrier when struck by a moving vehicle thereby to prevent destruction of the gates. Y

3. In a device of the class described the combination with two posts, of a barrier connected to said posts and extending from Ill)- one to the other, and gates hinged to the posts and so connected to the barrier that normally the weight of the barrier is partially supported by the gates but when the gates are struck by a moving vehicle they may swing into partially opened position and leave the barrier closed.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination with two posts, of a barrier connected to said posts and extending from one to the other, and gates hinged to the posts and connected to the barrier to partially support the barrier when the gates are closed but when the gates are struck by a moving vehicle to permit the gates to swing free from the barrier and leave the barrier supported only by the posts.

5. In a barrier for drawbridges, ferry boats and the like, the combination with two posts, of a flexible barrier connected at its ends to the posts and suspended therefrom, said barrier comprising two sections which are disconnectable from each other, barrier supporting members pivoted to the posts, and means connecting the sections of the barrier and the barrier-supporting members in such a manner that when the barrier-supporting members and barrier are normally closed the barrier sections are partially supported by the barrier-supporting members but when the barrier-supporting members are struck by a moving vehicle they will swing free from the barrier sections and leave said sections supported only by the posts.

6. In a device of the class described, the combination with two posts, of a barrier connected to said posts and extending from one to the other, said barrier comprising two sections detachably connected together, gates hinged to the posts, hook-shaped rests carried by the gates and on which the barrier sections are partially supported, and resilient guard fingers associated with each rest for retaining the barrier therein.

7 In a device of the class described, the combination with two posts, of a barrier connected to said posts and extending from one to the other, said barrier comprising two sections detachably connected together, gates hinged to the posts, hook-shaped rests carried by the gates and on which the barrier sections are partially supported, resilient guard fingers associated with each rest for retaining the barrier therein, and flexible connections connecting the ends of each barrier section to the gate.

8. In a device of the class described, the combination with two posts, of an eye bolt yieldingly sustained by each post. a flexible barrier extending from one post to the other,

a link member connected to each end of the barrier and connected to one of the eye bolts, and a projection on each post co-operating with the link member to prevent the eye bolt from turning.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

WILLIAM J. DONOVAN. 

